Poems (Crandall)/Two Little Girls

by Rosa Neil Crandall

Two Little Girls

Two little girls are swinging
 Up in the tree top high;
Two little voices singing,
 "Rockabye, baby, bye."

Wild as the woods around them,
 Free as the birds of the air,
Not a thought of danger
 Not a single care.

Nature's joyous children,
 Slowly to and fro,
Sway with the slender tree top;
 Softly the breezes blow,

Kissing the glowing faces;
 Tossing the sunlit curls;
Hark! 'tis a father calling,
 "Down from there, quick, you girls."

Two little girls are standing,
 Arms extended wide,
"Teeter—teetertotter,"
 Up and down they ride,

On a board well balanced
 Top of the high rail fence.
Now, calls a frightened mother,
 "Girls, you will break your necks."

Two little girls in the hay barn,
  Running the highest beam;
Two little girls on an old log,
  Crossing the swollen stream.

Two little rogues are missing,
  Gone from their haunts away;
Search each nook and corner
  Where they loved to play.

Deep in the forest shadows
  Where spring blossoms blow;
Under the giant chestnut,
  Down where the berries grow.

But you'll never find them,
  All your efforts vain;
Nor would we recall them
  The path to try again.

Oh, blessed, blessed childhood,
  When life seemed pure and true;
Sweet, loving, trusting childhood
  For evermore, adieu.